Designing for Intentionalty

(2010)

This project was a collaboration with the University of Sienna. To quote from my research paper:

Robot technology is taking on an ever more important role throughout our modern lives. Vending machines serve us snacks and coffee, industrial robots assemble and test most of the products we use and our children play with animated robotic toys as if they were pets. While technical advances in computer chip, motor en sensor technology are being made in rapid succession to increase the functional behav- iour of the robots around us, the field of research into the emotional communication between man and machine is somewhat lagging behind. In this paper, we explore the possibilities for the conveyance of robot intentionality through the means of the psychological principle of percep- tual crossing. We discuss a number of experiments that have been done using an experimental platform that was created as an add-on module for an existing robotic plat- form called IROMEC, designed for exploring social en- gagement with children. We attempt to show the effect of providing a robotic entity with the ability for perceptual crossing. We explore the possibilities for the expression of intentionality within this context through a number of user explorations conducted with young children.